Smallholders, who cultivate ±30% of the global palm oil land, are critical to the realization of a sustainable palm oil sector. However, particularly independent smallholders, untied to mills, lag behind in yields and experience challenges to market their produce. Sustainability certification, such as …

Presentation held at the 4th International Conference on Tropical Silviculture Bogor, 24 August 2023

PowerPoint presentation used at the 6th International Conference of Indonesia Forestry Researchers - Stream 2 Managing Forest and Natural Resources, Meeting Sustainable and Friendly Use 7-8 September 2021, Bogor, Indonesia.

Peat swamp forests in Southeast Asia are under heavy pressure. Deforestation, forest degradation, wildfires, and drainage have damaged or destroyed substantial areas of the once extensive peat swamp forest formations. Several efforts are underway to rehabilitate degraded peat forests areas in order to …

Smallholders are a substantial part of the oil palm sector and thus key to achieve more sustainable production. However, so far their yields remain below potential. The Roundtable on Sustainable Oil Palm (RSPO) aims to include smallholders in sustainability certification to strengthen rural livelihoods …

Tropical forests are the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth. While better understanding of these forests is critical for our collective future, until quite recently efforts to measure and monitor them have been largely disconnected. Networking is essential to discover the answers to questions …

Planting was done as a rehabilitation effort at degraded tropical peatland. Understanding the characteristics of the species and environmental conditions that affect plant growth will determine the success of the planting. This study aims to determine the main environmental factors that affect plants …

The carbon sink capacity of tropical forests is substantially affected by tree mortality. However, the main drivers of tropical tree death remain largely unknown. Here we present a pan-Amazonian assessment of how and why trees die, analysing over 120,000 trees representing > 3800 species from 189 long-term …

PowerPoint presentation used during a lecture of Peter van der Meer, professor Oil Palm & Tropical Forests at Van Hall Larenstein, at the International Conference Sustainability of Wetlands PHLB ULM Webinar Series #1 on Wetlands, on September 16, 2020.

The sensitivity of tropical forest carbon to climate is a key uncertainty in predicting global climate change. Although short-term drying and warming are known to affect forests, it is unknown if such effects translate into long-term responses. Here, we analyze 590 permanent plots measured across the …